Ice Age

This post is sort of an addendum to my earlier one about the allure of the local rock shop. In my quest to become a better rock hound, generally, I've been scouting out more rock and fossil venues lately. I haven't had much luck finding nice dino bone or coprolite beads yet, but I did score this unusual strand recently. I actually came across it on my own while browsing through attractive strands of jasper and quartz beads. I thought they were interestingly tactile (it doesn't come across well in the photo - the beads have great texture) but hadn't the faintest idea what they were. I ended up getting distracted by some beautiful polished ammonite halves and put them back without making an inquiry.

Fortunately, when I checked out with the items I had put on my tray, I asked about the dino and corprolite beads and received this reply: "If we could find good quality ones, we would definitely buy them, but they're actually pretty hard to come by. [Pause.] We do have mammoth bone beads, though. Would you be interested in those?"

I love stuff like this. I found the beads intriguing before knowing what they were, but the fact that they are actually fossilized mammoth bone (and I should point out that they are mammoth bone and not mammoth ivory) makes them irresistible to someone like me. So, I say again - check out your local rock shop. You never know what you'll find.

Thanks for visiting.